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God’s Promise of His World Government DependableThe Watchtower—1979 | December 1
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Well, David’s royal family tree had been cut down, but its stump was not dead. Almighty God could make it produce a “sprout” that would become the Permanent Heir of the promised kingdom. Let us listen to this:
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God’s Promise of His World Government DependableThe Watchtower—1979 | December 1
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In those days and at that time I shall make sprout for David a righteous sprout, and he will certainly execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah [David’s tribe] will be saved and Jerusalem itself [after her promised recuperation] will reside in security. And this is what she will be called, Jehovah Is Our Righteousness.’” This is the same name as that by which her future King was to be called.—Jer. 33:14-16; compare Jeremiah 23:4-6.
11. The promised “sprout” was brought forth in the person of whom, and in 1914 C.E., how did he prove to be really the “Sprout” of Jehovah?
11 Did this promise having to do with world government prove to be dependable? Yes! Although more than 640 years had to pass, the stump of David’s dethroned, uncrowned, unsceptered family put a sprout forth right at Jehovah’s due time. This was in the person of Jesus, who had been born in David’s hometown of Bethlehem and who was baptized by his forerunner, John the Baptizer, and was immediately afterward anointed with God’s spirit to be the Permanent Heir of the Kingdom covenant that had been made with David. (2 Sam. 7:4-16; Ezek. 21:21-27) In reality he became the “Sprout” of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, for, after the end of “seven times” (2,520 years) of Gentile sovereignty of the earth, in 1914 C.E., the glorified Jesus Christ has been used to revive Jehovah’s sovereignty toward the earth in fulfillment of the Kingdom covenant.—Dan. 4:13-26; Zech. 6:12, 13.
12. (a) How was Jesus Christ proved to be “righteous” as a sprout? (b) Whose “Lord” did he become, and how was a salvation made possible for “Judah” and “Jerusalem”?
12 That this “Sprout” was “righteous” Jehovah God proved when he raised Jesus Christ from a martyr’s death on the third day and exalted him to His own right hand in the heavens. Thus Jesus Christ, though once an earthly ‘son of David,’ became David’s “Lord.” (Ps. 110:1-4; Matt. 22:41-45) When he ascended back to his heavenly Father’s right hand, it was with the value of his perfect human sacrifice. Thus he could bring salvation to “Judah,” the capital city of which was “Jerusalem.” Certainly, then, Jesus caused the royalty of David’s house to sprout once again!—Rev. 22:16.
13. (a) Which one is the Jerusalem that resides now in security? (b) The name “Jehovah Is Our Righteousness” refers to whose “righteousness,” and why does the same name properly apply also to the one called “Sprout”?
13 Jesus Christ is called “the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the root of David.” (Rev. 5:5) Because of rejecting and having this ‘Lion of the tribe of Judah’ killed, earthly Jerusalem did not “reside in security,” but was destroyed in 70 C.E. (Matt. 23:37, 38; Luke 21:24) However, the higher Jerusalem, “heavenly Jerusalem,” does enjoy such security, for her spiritual children, the 144,000 anointed followers of Jesus Christ, reside in security under Jehovah’s care. (Heb. 12:22; Gal. 4:26-28) This “Jerusalem above” is really the organization called “Jehovah Is Our Righteousness.” Since it is a matter of “Our Righteousness,” not, ‘My Righteousness,’ the reference is to the 144,000 spiritual children of the heavenly Jerusalem, for Jehovah God does justify these or declare them righteous because of the merit of Christ’s sacrifice. The name of Jesus Christ as the “Sprout” is also “Jehovah Is Our Righteousness,” he being the representative of his 144,000 anointed followers.—Jer. 23:5, 6; see also 1 Corinthians 1:30, 31; Romans 3:21, 22.
14. Since Christ and his associate organization bear such a name, what kind of government is God’s coming world government certain to be?
14 With the anointed King and his associated organization being called by such a God-given name, what kind of government is God’s coming world government for all mankind certain to be? Nothing but a righteous government. How thankful we can be for that!
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